1-800-driverheaven help desk lol! Need some of it

Customgamer1 · Oct 2, 2007, 01:36 AM

Ok not really a call but I do need some help!

It's been a while but I have a problem...

I built a system for my aunt about 1 year ago and she is starting to have some problems.

She by no means knows much about computers so this is what she tells me over the phone:

I am having some problems with the computer you built me. When I try to turn it on in the morning the fan kicks on some times like it's running but nothing happens. Also "it has a weird busing noise all the time and the internet turns off sometimes" so I found out that when I unplug it for about 10 minutes and plug it back in it works. It just started doing this and it's the only way it will turn on.

I then asked if it would stay on all day and she said yes.

I told her to try just the computer hooked up to the wall and no the power strip that is hooked up and she says its the same problem. I then ask her if the power cord is plugged in good and she says yes.

I am really out of things to try over the phone. She lives far away so there is no way I could go out there and see whats up.

Any ideas would be great! I was thinking it might be heat but if it stays on how could it?

I used a Antec power supply and it has a AMD 3500+ CPU with 1 gig of ram and really just a good basic computer. I know it has enough power.

I think I could have my cousin change out the power supply if thats the reason but I really hope it's not the motherboard because if it is well then we have a problem lol. They keep it in a desk. Yeah I know it's a bad spot but do you think it could just have to much dust built up and needs a blow out?

Dyre Straits · Oct 2, 2007, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Customgamer1

Ok not really a call but I do need some help!

It's been a while but I have a problem...

I built a system for my aunt about 1 year ago and she is starting to have some problems.

She by no means knows much about computers so this is what she tells me over the phone:

I am having some problems with the computer you built me. When I try to turn it on in the morning the fan kicks on some times like it's running but nothing happens. Also "it has a weird busing noise all the time and the internet turns off sometimes" so I found out that when I unplug it for about 10 minutes and plug it back in it works. It just started doing this and it's the only way it will turn on.

I then asked if it would stay on all day and she said yes.

I told her to try just the computer hooked up to the wall and no the power strip that is hooked up and she says its the same problem. I then ask her if the power cord is plugged in good and she says yes.

I am really out of things to try over the phone. She lives far away so there is no way I could go out there and see whats up.

Any ideas would be great! I was thinking it might be heat but if it stays on how could it?

I used a Antec power supply and it has a AMD 3500+ CPU with 1 gig of ram and really just a good basic computer. I know it has enough power.

I think I could have my cousin change out the power supply if thats the reason but I really hope it's not the motherboard because if it is well then we have a problem lol. They keep it in a desk. Yeah I know it's a bad spot but do you think it could just have to much dust built up and needs a blow out?

Putting a PC inside any enclosure is not just BAD, it's the WORST possible place for it. (Unless you do like the guy who wanted water cooling and dropped it into his bathtub!! YIKES!!)

It needs space to draw in the cooler air from the room and then exhaust the heat so that the heated air can escape and cool down.

As for your last question: Yes! It's absolutely a very good possibility that there's lots of dust accumulated inside the case and on the cooling fans. Definitely advise to take it outside and use a can of compressed air to blow it all out.

If that doesn't do the trick, let us know. BUT for sure!!! tell them to put that PC where it can breathe!!!

Customgamer1 · Oct 2, 2007, 05:03 AM

Well I am having her blow it out tomorrow. I had her open the case and she said it was not that bad but bad enough where she is going to do it.

I really hope it's something easy because typing over AIM what you should do is hard lol.

She has a laptop so she is not working on her computer while it's on lol just to let everyone know!

She told me that all she has plugged in was the power cord and it makes a buzzing sound and gets nothing. And after turning it back on a few times or just once not to sure it works. That just beyond my knowledge on why that is going on? My guess it's a power supply problem.

Dyre Straits · Oct 2, 2007, 05:09 AM

Yes, it does sound a lot like a PSU problem. Anyway she can pinpoint where the buzzing is coming from? She might have to try turning it on with the side cover off. Just tell her NOT to stick her head into the case.

I know all about helping via AIM and Yahoo Messenger! When my mom first got a PC, she was living 500 miles away. I lost track of the nearly all-nighters I spent explaining, re-explaining, drawing images....etc. etc.

Today, she's less than 10 miles away and doing a really good job on her own. But, once in a while, she needs my personal attention.

Good luck!

Customgamer1 · Oct 2, 2007, 05:16 AM

Well I will give a update again once she blows it out! Yeah I wish I could drive over to her house and fix it in 15 but thats not going to happen.

Anyways it will be a treat if I get to help her put in a new Power supply lol.

If it is the power supply I bet it died from being in the desk and got to damn hot.

Thanks for your help so far!

Dyre Straits · Oct 2, 2007, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Customgamer1

Well I will give a update again once she blows it out! Yeah I wish I could drive over to her house and fix it in 15 but thats not going to happen.

Anyways it will be a treat if I get to help her put in a new Power supply lol.

If it is the power supply I bet it died from being in the desk and got to damn hot.

Thanks for your help so far!

Heat is the worst enemy. Then I think it's the dust in a close second place.

Will be looking for the update.

procupine14 · Oct 2, 2007, 05:21 PM

from what you are saying it really does sound like a PSU problem.....thats the problem I had when i shorted out my very first PSU. Apparantely a 450W PSU can't charge an Ipod all night lol!!!! thats what i was doing when it shorted so its my little joke.

also another thought is that it may be a bad CPU HS fan which may explain the buzzing and definitely the unwillingness to boot or boot randomly.

I had an gateway in the house that that happened to it made lot o' noise and refused to boot. Then i found the culprit......a melted HSF

CDsDontBurn · Oct 2, 2007, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

Heat is the worst enemy. Then I think it's the dust in a close second place.

Will be looking for the update.

remember that dust creates more heat

.

Customgamer1 · Oct 2, 2007, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by procupine14

from what you are saying it really does sound like a PSU problem.....thats the problem I had when i shorted out my very first PSU. Apparantely a 450W PSU can't charge an Ipod all night lol!!!! thats what i was doing when it shorted so its my little joke.

also another thought is that it may be a bad CPU HS fan which may explain the buzzing and definitely the unwillingness to boot or boot randomly.

I had an gateway in the house that that happened to it made lot o' noise and refused to boot. Then i found the culprit......a melted HSF

Well I will have to make sure they check where the sound is coming from. If I have to get them to put on a new heat sink omg will that be a risk to do over the phone LOL... I am still waiting on the update with them blowing out the dust!

procupine14 · Oct 3, 2007, 12:38 AM

yeah i know what you are saying which by the way good luck

but lets just hope its something easy

Customgamer1 · Oct 3, 2007, 12:39 AM

UPDATE:

They cleaned it out with no luck...

They said there was a buzzing sound coming from it so I told them to unplug the case fan and they said it sounded like it was coming from the power supply...

So that leads me to think that the only way to fix the problem is to replace it. I have a extra 400w Antec. I had a 500W one in there but I am sure 400W will be fine.

The challenge will be for me to get the new power supply installed right over the phone lol. I think I can do it since I really have no choice.

Dyre Straits · Oct 3, 2007, 07:25 AM

It really should be a simple task if they will do this:

Take photos of each step as they remove the old one and then review them in reverse as they install the new one. (As long as they have either a camera with a viewer and/or another PC to view the images with.)

**Mousey** · Oct 3, 2007, 11:01 AM

Or you could borrow a video camera, take out your PSU and film yourself re-installing it, then send them that vid?

Make sure you explain it in RETARD Steps, RETARD steps help everyone, even pros lol.
And when i say Retard steps, i mean explain every little detail and exactly how to do it.
IE> (Board power) "Push in the little plastic tab on this connector, and wiggle it from side to side while you pull it up, eventually it should just slide out like this"

See my point?

Customgamer1 · Oct 24, 2007, 01:12 AM

UPDATE:
Well thanks for everyone help!

This past Sunday I was on the phone with my aunt and uncle for a little over an hour i think with great SUCCESS!!

I was shocked at how well they picked it up and got the power supply all unplugged and installed. I told them it was going to be on the easy side of things since everything really fits in one spot. I made sure they had all the connections hooked up with sending them a pic I found of a open computer case on the internet and I made red boxes around some of the cords they needed to unplug. That seemed to help give them an idea what I was asking.

All in All the power supply was the problem and now they are problem free. They also are keeping the box out side of the desk and that should keep it alive for years to come!

I am soooooooooo happy my phone skills with helping someone without seeing anything that they are doing are good! I should get a help desk job lol or not...

Dyre Straits · Oct 24, 2007, 07:37 AM

Fantastic!

Thanks for updating this situation and I'm glad it has a happy ending.

Oct 2, 2007, 01:36 AM	#1
Customgamer1 Fell off the tech wagon Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,273 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	1-800-driverheaven help desk lol! Need some of it Ok not really a call but I do need some help! It's been a while but I have a problem... I built a system for my aunt about 1 year ago and she is starting to have some problems. She by no means knows much about computers so this is what she tells me over the phone: I am having some problems with the computer you built me. When I try to turn it on in the morning the fan kicks on some times like it's running but nothing happens. Also "it has a weird busing noise all the time and the internet turns off sometimes" so I found out that when I unplug it for about 10 minutes and plug it back in it works. It just started doing this and it's the only way it will turn on. I then asked if it would stay on all day and she said yes. I told her to try just the computer hooked up to the wall and no the power strip that is hooked up and she says its the same problem. I then ask her if the power cord is plugged in good and she says yes. I am really out of things to try over the phone. She lives far away so there is no way I could go out there and see whats up. Any ideas would be great! I was thinking it might be heat but if it stays on how could it? I used a Antec power supply and it has a AMD 3500+ CPU with 1 gig of ram and really just a good basic computer. I know it has enough power. I think I could have my cousin change out the power supply if thats the reason but I really hope it's not the motherboard because if it is well then we have a problem lol. They keep it in a desk. Yeah I know it's a bad spot but do you think it could just have to much dust built up and needs a blow out? __________________ Asus Laptop: 2.5 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4gigs DDR 2, Windows 7 64bit! Windows 7 > OSX! Last edited by Customgamer1; Oct 2, 2007 at 01:41 AM.

Oct 2, 2007, 05:03 AM	Thread Starter #3
Customgamer1 Fell off the tech wagon Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,273 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	Well I am having her blow it out tomorrow. I had her open the case and she said it was not that bad but bad enough where she is going to do it. I really hope it's something easy because typing over AIM what you should do is hard lol. She has a laptop so she is not working on her computer while it's on lol just to let everyone know! She told me that all she has plugged in was the power cord and it makes a buzzing sound and gets nothing. And after turning it back on a few times or just once not to sure it works. That just beyond my knowledge on why that is going on? My guess it's a power supply problem. __________________ Asus Laptop: 2.5 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4gigs DDR 2, Windows 7 64bit! Windows 7 > OSX!

Oct 2, 2007, 05:16 AM	Thread Starter #5
Customgamer1 Fell off the tech wagon Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,273 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	Well I will give a update again once she blows it out! Yeah I wish I could drive over to her house and fix it in 15 but thats not going to happen. Anyways it will be a treat if I get to help her put in a new Power supply lol. If it is the power supply I bet it died from being in the desk and got to damn hot. Thanks for your help so far! __________________ Asus Laptop: 2.5 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4gigs DDR 2, Windows 7 64bit! Windows 7 > OSX!

Oct 2, 2007, 05:21 PM	#7
procupine14 Why is it Beeping!?!?! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA, Missouri Posts: 1,400 Rep Power: 58 System Specs	from what you are saying it really does sound like a PSU problem.....thats the problem I had when i shorted out my very first PSU. Apparantely a 450W PSU can't charge an Ipod all night lol!!!! thats what i was doing when it shorted so its my little joke. also another thought is that it may be a bad CPU HS fan which may explain the buzzing and definitely the unwillingness to boot or boot randomly. I had an gateway in the house that that happened to it made lot o' noise and refused to boot. Then i found the culprit......a melted HSF __________________ HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

Oct 3, 2007, 12:38 AM	#10
procupine14 Why is it Beeping!?!?! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA, Missouri Posts: 1,400 Rep Power: 58 System Specs	yeah i know what you are saying which by the way good luck but lets just hope its something easy __________________ HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

Oct 3, 2007, 12:39 AM	Thread Starter #11
Customgamer1 Fell off the tech wagon Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,273 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	UPDATE: They cleaned it out with no luck... They said there was a buzzing sound coming from it so I told them to unplug the case fan and they said it sounded like it was coming from the power supply... So that leads me to think that the only way to fix the problem is to replace it. I have a extra 400w Antec. I had a 500W one in there but I am sure 400W will be fine. The challenge will be for me to get the new power supply installed right over the phone lol. I think I can do it since I really have no choice. __________________ Asus Laptop: 2.5 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4gigs DDR 2, Windows 7 64bit! Windows 7 > OSX!

Oct 3, 2007, 11:01 AM	#13
Mousey Synth's Long Lost Bro Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Web Design Hell Posts: 7,189 Rep Power: 245 System Specs	Or you could borrow a video camera, take out your PSU and film yourself re-installing it, then send them that vid? Make sure you explain it in RETARD Steps, RETARD steps help everyone, even pros lol. And when i say Retard steps, i mean explain every little detail and exactly how to do it. IE> (Board power) "Push in the little plastic tab on this connector, and wiggle it from side to side while you pull it up, eventually it should just slide out like this" See my point? __________________

Oct 24, 2007, 01:12 AM	Thread Starter #14
Customgamer1 Fell off the tech wagon Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,273 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	UPDATE: Well thanks for everyone help! This past Sunday I was on the phone with my aunt and uncle for a little over an hour i think with great SUCCESS!! I was shocked at how well they picked it up and got the power supply all unplugged and installed. I told them it was going to be on the easy side of things since everything really fits in one spot. I made sure they had all the connections hooked up with sending them a pic I found of a open computer case on the internet and I made red boxes around some of the cords they needed to unplug. That seemed to help give them an idea what I was asking. All in All the power supply was the problem and now they are problem free. They also are keeping the box out side of the desk and that should keep it alive for years to come! I am soooooooooo happy my phone skills with helping someone without seeing anything that they are doing are good! I should get a help desk job lol or not... __________________ Asus Laptop: 2.5 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4gigs DDR 2, Windows 7 64bit! Windows 7 > OSX!